


little pink handkerchiefs

by shipwreckinabottle



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bad Boy Mon-El, Bullying, F/M, Falling In Love, Good Girl kara, Pink Handkerchiefs, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-15 22:57:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9261866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipwreckinabottle/pseuds/shipwreckinabottle
Summary: / She remembers his eyes, the same cold, rigid pair, always watching her whenever she passes him by, like in that second when their eyes meet, she isn't as invisible to him as she is to the rest of the world. /In which Kara wants nothing more than to graduate high school and leave all the drama, bullying, and her small town behind, until meeting the school's delinquent, Mon-El, who seems to have taken a sudden and unlikely interest in her.-Or, when Kara forgets all about the time she gives a bleeding Mon-El her tiny pink handkerchief when they were kids but he still remembers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alright. I should really be focusing more on my other Kara / Mon-El fic, but this idea came by one day and just wouldn't leave. 
> 
> It's just a fun high school AU, where Kara's the "good girl" and Mon-El's the "bad boy." 
> 
> Cat's the bully / antagonist in this story. Cat's a great character and I love her, but if we take away her goodwill and context, the way she treats Kara really makes for an excellent bully, which is perfect for my story.
> 
> Also, a photo of a younger Calista Flockhart, in case you're having troubles picturing her as a teenager. 
> 
> https://dvdbash.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/calista-flockhart-dvdbash-02.jpg
> 
> Random song recommendations? 
> 
> Alone - Billy Lockett  
> I can't make you love me - The March Ahead.  
> Everglow - Costantino Carrara, Michele Grandinetti & Vanni Tagliavento. 
> 
> I prefer listening to slower / non-pop songs when I write.

The nine year old boy sat quietly outside the principal’s office, his posture stiff, eyes downcast to the dirty floor. His clothing was torn and filthy, covered in dried mud and grass. There was a tiny gash to the side of his left eye and a thin line of blood ran down his cheek from where the skin was split. He rubbed at the wound with his hand, the pale creases of his knuckles still raw from the bruising.  
  
The bell above him rang.  
  
He’d counted three since being told to wait outside the principal’s office. Three periods. He’d been waiting for close to three hours. The boys he’d fought with had already long left, sternly reprimanded for their involvement, with two weeks of additional detention added to their bruised cheeks and equally bruised egos.  
  
They’d glared at him on their way out, only to receive his fiery own, a firm refusal to back down, an invitation for another go. They left quietly afterwards.  
  
Their parents came an hour later. They waited another for his father since the principal wanted to speak to all their parents together. Then the hour passed and his father was still nowhere to be seen, so they started without him.  
  
The parents stared at him on their way into the principal’s office. Faces of contempt, disapproval, disdain. They hated him. He knew, because it was exactly how their children looked at him.  
  
The doorway closed behind him, but the thin walls did little to muffle their voices; they rose and ebbed, a cycle of the parents getting agitated and the principal trying his best to calm them down. The exchange went on for another twenty minutes.

He heard everything they said: about him, about his father.  
  
_“The child is as rotten as his good-for-nothing dad.”_  
  
_“It isn’t his first time fighting in school. He should be expelled! Look what he did to my poor baby!”_  
  
_“Probably passed out at the bar right now. Guy couldn’t even give less of a shit about his own kid.”_  
  
_“Mark my words, Mon-El will end up exactly the same as his father one day.”_  
  
The boy squeezed his eyes shut, fingers scrunching into the fabric of his pants. No one cared that it was the three boys who picked on him first. _Just like his father._ It had always been easier for the parents to blame him rather than their own precious children.  
  
He picked at the wound again, irritated by the scabbing, a little too hard and his hand came away bloody. He thought of using his shirt to wipe away the blood, but he was still covered in mud. He knew it wouldn’t be a good idea. Instead, he pressed his face into his palms and grunted in frustration. He was tired and he was hungry and he was in pain. He just wanted to go home. Tears bristled at the corners of his eyes and it took all he could to will himself not to cry.

“ _Hi._ ”  
  
A girl’s voice, unexpectedly. He looked up from his hands. She stood in front of him, curious green eyes peeking out underneath a headful of messy blonde curls, light freckles on both sides of her nose, a small crinkle between her eyebrows and a tiny pink handkerchief held in her hand, offered in his direction. “Here you go!”  
  
“Huh?” he stared at her in utter confusion, alternating between her and the handkerchief, wondering for a long second if she’d mixed him up with the wrong person. “What?”  
  
She hopped a step closer to him and dangled the handkerchief in front of his face. “To wipe your cheek, duh!”  
  
The blood. He realized she was referring to his bloodied cheek. He shook his head quickly. “It’ll stain.”  
  
She ignored his weak protests and pushed the handkerchief into his hands. “You need it more than I do.”  
  
He stared at the tiny piece of fabric for the longest time, still in disbelief, then back at her. “T-Thank you,” he mumbled, wiping gingerly at the blood. “I’ll clean it and return it to you tomorrow, I promise.”  
  
Her lips parted, like she was about to say something else, when someone behind her shouted.  
  
“ _Kaaaaraaaaaaaa! Mom’s here! Let’s goooo!”_  
  
“ _Coming Alex!”_ she shouted, before turning back to him with a smile. “I have to go now. Bye!”  
  
He watched her skip her way down the corridor, his nine year old brain still not quite comprehending just how much her smile reminded him of early sunrises in the morning. It was silly, but he liked it a lot.

 

* * *

  
**_  
_****_Ten years later…_**

Kara was sitting in an unoccupied classroom, hoping to catch up on some uninterrupted reading between periods when Cat Grant and her two lackeys barged suddenly into the room. Cat marched straight over in Kara’s direction and slammed her palm down loudly onto the desk, causing the Kara to jump in her seat. Her two lackeys—Siobhan and Leslie, took up positions next to Kara, cutting off her only paths of escape.  
  
Kara remained seated, not daring to meet Cat’s eyes.  
  
“Whatcha reading, _Keera_?” Cat sneered, slapping Kara’s hands aside and picking up the book she was reading. “ _Journalism 101_?” she giggled loudly. “ _Keera_! Are you trying to become a reporter!?”  
  
Kara slowly nodded. “C-Can I have it back please?” her voice came out a lot weaker and softer than she had wanted. “I-I have to get to my next class soon.”  
  
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Cat said, not sounding the slightest bit apologetic. She waved the book in front of Kara. “Do you want it back?”  
  
Kara nodded, fingers fidgeting nervously with her glasses.

Cat held out the book towards her like she was about to return it, then spinning away at the last second and hurling it away as hard as she could. The book flew across the room, slamming loudly into the whiteboard and falling behind the teacher’s desk.    
  
“Opps,” Cat pursed her lips together. “Must’ve slipped.”  
  
Kara remained quiet, but stood up in her seat. She knew better than to respond negatively; they were just trying to provoke her, to see her reaction. It wasn’t the first time they were doing so, and it won’t be the last time either. She picked up her bag and started in the direction of her book, when Cat suddenly moved into her path.  
  
“Am I in your way?” Cat smirked, arms folded tightly across her chest. “Do you need me to move aside?” her eyes twinkled with mischief, her neatly applied eyeliner in the same shade as her irises.  
  
Everything about Cat was perfect, from her eyeliner to her nails to her hair and even the amount of padding in her bra.  
  
The two of them were nothing alike.  
  
Kara was a nobody; she wasn’t someone with the same interests as the rest of the students in her senior year; she wasn’t interested in all the partying, the booze, the sex. All Kara wanted was to graduate Krypton High with her perfect GPA, finish her summer internship at the daily Planet and move as far away as she could from her small town of Krypton.  
  
The two of them should have never crossed paths; they lived in completely different worlds; a year ago, someone like Cat Grant wouldn’t even spare Kara a second glance. That was until the day Kara slipped and accidentally spilled her lunch all over Cat’s expensive designer purse.  
  
All hell broke loose on that day, and suddenly, Kara was no longer a nobody.  
  
“Well?” Cat repeated sarcastically, clearly with no intent of letting Kara escape unscathed.  
  
Before Kara could reply, one of the other girls shoved her roughly from behind—she stumbled forward, tripping over Cat’s outstretched leg, losing her balance and falling to the ground, her glasses knocked away from her.  
  
“ _What are you doing._ ”  
  
A voice came from the classroom’s entrance.  
  
Kara’s heart soared with relief. She couldn’t see all that well without her glasses, but it sounded like a teacher.  
  
Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent from Cat’s reaction that it wasn’t.  
  
“Mon-El,” the girl said in a singsong voice, evidently delighted at the newcomer’s arrival. She waltzed towards him in an effortless saunter, her heels clicking loudly across the classroom floor. “Are you here to ask me to the dance?”  
  
Mon-El stared at Cat for a long second, then without even acknowledging her presence, stepped past her, almost pushing her aside on his way over to Kara. He picked up her glasses and crouched down beside her. “Are you okay?” he asked, holding out her glasses.  
  
Kara stared at him suspiciously, afraid that it was another one of Cat’s elaborate ploys. When he did not attempt anything else, she accepted them cautiously and put them on. He came slowly into focus; black hair, an angular face, eyes that were rigid and cold, but with a glimmer that almost resembled concern, betraying his indifferent outward appearance.  
  
She recognized him, his eyes, the same cold, rigid pair. Their paths had crossed plenty during the semester she’d volunteered as the teaching assistant, and whenever she would make her way to the teacher’s lounge to collect the day’s curriculum, he would be there, seated outside the principal’s office, often bruised and bleeding. She remembered his eyes, the same haunting pair, always staring in her direction whenever she would pass him by, like in that second when their eyes would meet, she wasn’t as invisible to him as she was to the rest of the world.  
  
He cleared his throat, and Kara realized he was still waiting for an answer. She swallowed nervously, still unsure of his intentions. They were complete strangers, he was the last person she had expected to offer help. “I-I’m okay,” she mumbled.  
  
He held out his hand and she accepted it after a long second of contemplation.  
  
Cat was still scowling when the two of them got up onto their feet, like she couldn’t believe the scene that was currently transpiring before her.  
  
Mon-El picked up Kara’s bag. “Let’s go.”  
  
Cat stood aside as they passed.  
  
The two of them left the classroom and walked quietly down the corridor, neither speaking, until he suddenly stopped. “Wait,” he said, handing her back her bag and jogging back towards the classroom. He made his way past the still sulking Cat, reaching behind the teacher’s desk and retrieving Kara’s book.  
  
But when he returned to the corridor, it was empty. Kara had already left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super fun chapter. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> Random song recommendations? 
> 
> Lilywhite - Luke Sital-Singh.  
> Willow - Jasmine Thompson.  
> Away - Chris Mann.  
> 

When Kara left the classroom with Mon-El by her side, her first and only instinct was to flee, to run as fast and as far away from him as she possibly could. Mon-El might have just saved her from Cat, but she couldn’t stop thinking about his reputation, and regardless of what he just did, she was still utterly afraid of him.  
  
There were plenty of rumors surrounding Mon-El; rumors of him being in a violent gang, rumors of him being a crime enforcer for the mob, there were even rumors of him participating in underground fight clubs with the winners ending up killing the losers. Some of the rumors were clearly more exaggerated than others, not surprising considering the way rumors spread like wildfire in a high school. There was never any proof of him being involved in such incidents of course, but from his constant bruising and injuries, she felt inclined to believe in at least some of the less outrageous ones.  
  
Certain unconfirmed rumors aside, what she knew of him—without a doubt—was that Mon-El was a delinquent. Always getting into trouble with the teachers, the authorities, and the rules, always getting caught with truancy, always getting into fights and getting suspended. And also being Cat’s current crush. It wasn’t a secret. Cat was pretty clear with her interest in Mon-El, but regardless of the times Kara had seen her openly flirt with him in the hallway between classes, she never once saw him reciprocate the other girl’s approach. His disinterest was also evident in the way he had stepped past Cat without saying even a single thing.  
  
She remembered the way Cat had stared at them as they left the room; filled with embarrassment and anger, Cat was definitely not going to let this down, she was going to make her regret it. It was a terrifying thought, and the fact that she was being accompanied by someone like Mon-El wasn’t making her feel any less mortified.  
  
Kara had wanted nothing more than to keep her head down and graduate Krypton High, preferably still in one piece. Getting Cat’s attention was a major setback she had hoped not to repeat. Except her current situation was on the same level of “things she wished to avoid / did not want to happen.” Because no one else in this school would dare step in Cat’s way. But he did. And she was almost afraid as to why.  
  
So when Mon-El told her to wait while he disappeared back in the direction of the classroom, she fled—no hesitation at all, without even once looking back. In hindsight, it was probably rude of her to leave without saying so, but she had no intention of finding out what exactly he had wanted with her. So she ran all the way to the library and hid there until the bell rang for the next period.  
  
When her next class ended, she returned cautiously to that same classroom. She stood around the corner of the corridor for a long minute, making absolutely sure that neither Cat nor Mon-El was still there before entering the room. She headed to where she last remembered Cat throwing the book, but when she stepped behind the teacher’s desk, her book wasn’t there.  
  
The space was empty.  
  
Kara stood there for a long quiet second. She couldn’t breathe, it felt like her lungs had suddenly stopped working, and all the strength had gone completely from her legs, reducing them to rubber. She sat down onto the nearest chair, her hands balling tightly into the knees of her skirt, an uncomfortable lump forming at the center of her throat.    
  
The book was a gift from her father on her tenth birthday. It was also the day before he had left to report the war in Daxam. The war ended a month later, but he never came back. That day was the last time she had seen him. The book was all she had left of him.  
  
Losing the book was devastating. She didn’t know how else to react but panic. She tore apart the room searching for the book. She couldn’t find it. When she calmed herself down enough, she went to look at the classroom’s schedule: there were no classes in between the time she’d left and came back. She went to find the janitor next, but the old cleaning lady had not seen the book either.  
  
In the end, after eliminating all the other possible outcomes, it all came down to one final logical (and horrifying) possibility: either Cat or Mon-El took the book. It meant she had to approach one of them to get her book back. She didn’t know who she was more afraid of.  
  
The rest of her periods went by slowly. Kara spent the majority of her classes being unable to concentrate, instead playing out in her head over and over again the hundreds of possibilities the conversation between her and either Cat or Mon-El could go, with an overwhelming majority of them ending up embarrassingly bad in her favor.

 

* * *

 

 _“Kara.”_  
  
“Kara!”  
  
Kara snapped out of her thoughts and stared at the person in front of her. “What?”  
  
“Jeez, Kara, were you even listening?” Winn—her one and only friend—asked.  
  
“I was,” she said.  
  
“Oh really?” Winn was obviously not convinced. “Prove it. What did I say?”  
  
He was right. She wasn’t listening. “You were saying that… umm… something about toys, and… umm...”  
  
“Uh-huh… and then?”  
  
“Alright, you’re right, I wasn’t listening,” she finally admitted. “I’m just having a lot on my mind.”  
  
“Well then, as I was saying… I know I kinda promised, but… well, you know about my dad’s arm injury right?”  
  
She nodded.  
  
“It’s a little bit more serious than we thought. He won’t be able to work for the next few week. That means I have to help out at the store. And that means that I won’t be able to help you with the debris cleanup.”  
  
“Oh. That’s fine. I’m sure I can manage,” she said.  
  
“Yeah, I mean,” he sounded apologetic. “I just…”  
  
“No, really!” Kara smiled reassuringly. “I’m sure I can find some other volunteers. You go take good care of your dad.”  
  
“Well then. Good luck!”  
  
Kara watched Winn leave, then turned towards her locker and planted her head against the metal surface. She sighed, _Cat or Mon-El._ She had to decide on who to approach first. The lesser of two anxiety-levels-raising evils. It was the part of the day she was dreading most.  
  
She stopped tapping her head against the locker when noticing the way the person beside her was staring. Not wanting to further embarrass herself, she quickly unlocked her locker, pretending to be interested in going through its contents when a slip of paper fell out and landed on the floor.  
  
She picked it up, confused, wondering how it got there in the first place. She turned the paper around. It was a written message, and it started off in blocky condemning letters, almost like it was addressing her in an accusatory tone.  
  
‘ _YOU_. _I have your book. Meet me tomorrow by the old willow tree. 2pm.’_  
  
Her heart stilled. She knew immediately who it was from. The person did not sign off on the note, but it was obvious who had her book. The letter wasn’t flowery, cursive, or passive-aggressive enough to be from Cat.  
  
It was Mon-El. Mon-El had her book. Definitely Mon-El.

 

* * *

 

The old willow tree once looked over the schools’ exterior basketball court. Now it stood alone in a field of only rubble and debris, like a single surviving flower in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The analogy was fitting, considering how much it felt like an actual apocalypse when the tornado that decimated the field tore its way through Krypton’s center two weeks back, leaving behind much destruction and debris in its wake.  
  
Thankfully, no one was hurt, but for a small town with even smaller resources, the debris-clearing effort ended up taking a lot longer than initially planned. After a long assessment, it became quickly apparent that the housing areas were a lot more damaged than the rest of the town, and because it was the place where most of Krypton’s residents resided, the reconstruction was prioritized in that area.  
  
The town council sent the construction workers to clear away some of the more dangerous debris from the school, but the field’s reconstruction wasn’t on a high priority list, at least until they were done with the housing area’s reconstruction as well. So they just cordoned off the area with a lot of tape and a few ‘danger’ signs.  
  
The vice principal had asked Kara to be in charge of organizing a volunteer group to help clear away some of the smaller debris. Not wanting to disappoint, she accepted the role, only to learn how embarrassingly bad she was at rallying people to her cause. Bad was an understatement. It was horrible. No one came. Not a single person. She ended up recruiting Winn’s help and it had just been the two of them for the last few days, and now that he needed to help out with his father’s store, she was down to only a single person left—herself.  
  
Kara stepped past the danger signs, carefully lifting up the tape and crossing underneath. She navigated her way through the debris, passing by large chunks of broken rubble and uprooted trees, eventually ending up at the old willow tree.  
  
The old willow tree had a long history, older than even Krypton herself. Most willow trees do not live past the age of fifty, but this particular one was said to be at least two centuries old, a miraculous sight, it even survived the passing tornado completely unscathed.  
  
She circled around the old tree, passing by the drooping branches and the delicate foliage, finding him on the other side, lying down on the beneath grass, a cap resting over his face. She approached him cautiously, but there came no response. He remained motionless, his face hidden by the cap, likely still fast asleep.  
  
She coughed softly, hoping to get his attention. Still no response.  
  
Not sure of what else she could do, she squatted down beside him and stared at him, hoping that she could somehow will him awake with her mind, or that he could somehow sense her presence beside him. That didn’t work either.  
  
So she ended up sitting down beside him for the whole of the next five minutes, watching him sleep, watching his chest slowly rising and falling with each slow breath he took. She thought of all the rumors she’d heard and her gaze fell instinctively to his hands, noticing a slight rawness at the creases of his knuckles.  
  
She was always a more optimistic person, always preferring to believe in the best of people regardless of their reputations. She told herself that his knuckles could have been from punching a wall in frustration or something along the lines of that, but the more she thought about his reputation, the more unlikely it seemed.  
  
She shook her head, pushing the thoughts out of her mind. Looking down at her watch, she saw that it was already 2:25pm—five more minutes until her next and last class of the day. She had never been late a single day in her life and she wasn’t about to start being late.  
  
So Kara gathered all her composure, took a deep breath, and poked Mon-El in the side of his ribs.  
  
He started to stir. She poked him again, a little harder the second time round.  
  
He responded by pulling off his cap and glaring daggers in her direction. “What?”  
  
She blinked a few times, not sure of what she should say. He was the one who had asked her to come, it wasn’t the other way round. His eyes narrowed onto hers, until a sudden flicker of recognition crossed his features. “Oh, you.” He sat himself upright. “I thought you weren’t coming.”  
  
“Seventh period ends at two-fifteen,” she said, then realizing that he must have skipped the previous period in order to be waiting here since two o’clock.  
  
“Oh. Yea,” he said in a sheepish manner, like the fact that they had to attend classes never even crossed his mind once. “Anyways,” he reached for his bag and pulled out the book. “Here you go.”  
  
She took it from him, almost crying in relief. It was her book, the one her father gave her. She clutched it to her chest, it felt like she had been holding the same breath since discovering the book was missing, and was now finally allowed to exhale. “T-Thank you… thank you so much!”  
  
He shrugged lazily. “I wanted to return it to you yesterday. But you left before I could.”  
  
The realization hit her and she immediately flushed red in embarrassment. _He wanted to return the book_. That was why he had asked her to wait. All she had thought of were negative outcomes. But all he wanted was to go retrieve the book for her. “A-About yesterday,” she stuttered. “I-I want to thank you for that as well, I… umm.” She couldn’t finish the sentence. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him that she left because she was wrongly afraid of him.  
  
He however, did not seem to care any less about what she had thought. He laid back down onto the grass, without even waiting for her to finish speaking, and covered his face again with the cap. It was like now that he had returned her the book, he was done with his responsibilities and was going back to bed.  
  
She stood up, “I… umm… I should be going now. I have another class.”  
  
He made an acknowledging hum.  
  
“Umm… I’m Kara, by the way, in case you’re wondering.”  
  
“I know,” was all he said, and he left it at that.  
  
She started back in the direction of the school, but stopped at the debris edge, taking a final look back in his direction. He still laid there underneath the willow tree, like as if skipping the next lesson was completely inconsequential, like he was left without a care to the world.  
  
Then Kara turned away and rushed straight to her next class. Because she had never been late a single day in her whole high school life, and she wasn’t about to start ruining her perfect record.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me your thoughts? :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick, quick update ;)
> 
> I wanted to get this chapter posted before I head to bed, so it's not exactly fully checked for mistakes yet. If you spot any, do point them out and I'll get to fixing them in the morning.

Kara was happily buried underneath a fort of comfortable pillows, lost in a peaceful little bubble of her own; her eyes were closed, her favorite soundtrack playing through the pair of headphones that she wore.  
  
It was one of those quieter nights, the moon hanging low over the visible horizon, almost like a silent friend, accompanying her through those later hours. The view was one of the better things about small town Krypton; the distinct lack of towering skyscrapers, unending city noises, the dirty traffic smog, but instead an endless expanse of stars in the visible skies, and the occasional moo of a passing cow.  
  
Nights like these were her favorites; pleasant and quiet, like there was nothing left in this world capable of disturbing the peacefulness.  
  
Until a loud bang—and her doorway flew open with a forceful kick.  
  
Kara jolted upright in surprise, knocking apart her pillow fort as the intruder barged into her room and tackled her back down onto the bed. She let out a surprised _ommph_ sound before exploding into happy laughter. “Alex!” Kara squealed in delight; she pulled off her headphones, the faint melody of _‘the fools who dream’_ fading softly into the distance. “When did you get back from National City!?”  
  
Alex pulled Kara into a tight hug, refusing to let go for a good five minutes or so. “I just got back. I missed you so much!”  
  
“I missed you too!” Kara laughed, finally struggling enough to break free from her older sister’s grasp. “What are you doing back in Krypton? I’m totally not complaining, but what about your classes?!”  
  
“Unlike you, I’m no longer in high school, dummy,” Alex said with a teasing grin. “I’ve got a week off until my next sem.”  
  
Kara pouted. “You don’t have to rub that in!” The both of them had always wanted to leave Krypton behind and start their lives together in National City. Being a year older, Alex obviously had the head start, but Kara was determined to catch up.  
  
“Just a few more months to go! You’re almost there!”  
  
“Yeah, I—“ Kara was interrupted mid-sentence by another one of Alex’s hugs, the two of them squealing as they fell off the bed and onto the floor.  
  
They ended up spending the entire night talking, mostly about Alex’s time in college and this ‘ _nice, funny, awesome, and did I mention awesome?’_ girl that she met. Alex refused to tell her the girl’s name, other than that it began with an “M” and ended with an “E.”  
  
Luckily for Kara, it was a Friday night, because they were still talking when the sun came up the next morning.

 

* * *

 

 

They slept all the way till four in the afternoon before getting up for afternoon cereal.  
  
Kara still had not given up on finding out the girl’s name. “Marie! Or… Michele! Or Michelle with two ‘L’s!” she guessed between mouthfuls of cereal. “Tell me please, pretty please.”  
  
“No, no, nope, and definitely nope,” Alex said calmly, as firm and as inscrutable as a statute, obviously enjoying how much she was torturing Kara. “Okay, enough about me!” she changed the topic after another ten minutes of ignoring Kara’s pleading. “We’ve been talking about me the whole night! What about you? What has my little sister been up to?”  
  
Kara swallowed nervously before answering. “Ermm… n-nothing much? Just the usual stuff.” She’d told Alex about Cat before, but that was still during the early ‘hallway glares’ and ‘shoulder brushing’ phase. Alex had no idea how badly the bullying became since she left. And if she did, there’d be no stopping her from marching straight down to Krypton High and raising all sorts of hell. All Kara wanted was to live out her remaining months before graduation in peace, and if that meant enduring Cat until then, then she’d be fine with it too.  
  
“C’mon, Sis, I can always tell when you’re lying,” Alex said between crunches of her food.

“I’m having trouble with the… uhm… debris cleanup.” Kara wasn’t exactly answering Alex’s question, but it wasn’t a full lie either. The cleanup was another issue she was having problems with. “I’m in charge of finding volunteers for the cleanup effort. I went around putting up flyers and stuff, but no one came.”  
  
“Ouch. That bad huh?” Alex gave her a sympathetic smile while getting up to clean her bowl.  
  
“Yeah, it was really embarrassing.”  
  
Kara’s attention drifted a little when Alex headed into the kitchen, eventually landing on the copy of _Journalism 101_ sitting on the nearby table. She instantly thought of him. _Mon-El._ And as much as she tried, she just couldn’t get rid of those nagging, persistent thoughts.  
  
Giving in to those thoughts, Kara picked up her bowl and joined Alex in the kitchen, squeezing in beside her near the sink. “Hey Alex,” she said after a long second of thinking. “You were in the same year as Mon-El, right?”  
  
“Mon-El?” Alex was visibly surprised at the mention of his name. “Yeah. What about him?”  
  
“Uhm… nothing much. Just a little bit of curiosity. I’ve been seeing him a lot outside the principal’s office, and you know, with all the crazy rumors and things surrounding him… I just can’t help but wonder.” She didn’t know why, but she purposely left out the part about Mon-El rescuing her from Cat. “I mean, no big reason or anything, I just see him a lot on my way, so…”  
  
“I see,” Alex shrugged. “I’ve had a few classes with him last year, thing is, he doesn’t usually show up to any of them. That along with all the fights he keeps getting into? It’s no surprise why he got held back a year.”  
  
“I see…” Kara said, falling deep in thought.  
  
“Wait…” Alex grinned, then playfully nudged Kara with her shoulder. “Don’t tell me… you’ve got something for the bad boy types?!”  
  
“What!?” Kara shook her head a little too quickly. “No, I don’t!”  
  
Alex laughed, “I was just teasing you.” Then she became a little bit more serious. “Either way, you should stay away from Mon-El. From what I know, that boy’s nothing but trouble.”

 

* * *

 

 

The next week went quickly by and it was soon time for Alex to head back to National City. The two of them promised to visit each other more often, and with a final longing hug, Alex got onto the bus, the two of them waving to each other until she eventually disappeared into the distance.

Life was quickly back to normal for Kara.  
  
Classes at Krypton High ended at 3:30 pm in the afternoon; but for the last two weeks, Kara had been spending an additional hour in school after classes to help with the debris cleanup. The construction crew had already broken down most of the bigger debris and removed the more dangerous pieces, so the cleanup only involved clearing away the remaining pieces of smaller debris, rubble, and dirt.   
  
The task probably could have been completed a lot earlier if she had proper help. But she didn’t mind. The debris field was located at an empty and deserted part of the school. It was usually quiet and it gave her plenty of alone time to herself. She would usually just put on her headphones, set her favorite album on repeat, and work for around an hour or so each day. It was how she’d been doing it the last two weeks.  
  
Most of those days, Kara spent alone, but on some, Mon-El would be there as well, seated near his usual corner by the old willow tree, minding his own business or asleep with a cap over his face. There were times when she noticed him watching her, but whenever she did, she would quickly look away, because it meant that she was watching him as well.   
  
He was like a quiet companion of hers for the past two weeks; they never once spoke, nor even acknowledged the other, but somehow, his presence made her feel less alone.  
  
It took her another long week of building up courage before daring to approach him.   
  
It was a peaceful autumn’s afternoon that day, the sun low over the horizon, the gentle breeze slipping through the low hanging willow leaves.  
  
Kara made her way up the small slope and stopped a few steps away from Mon-El. He wasn’t sleeping this time round, she’d made sure of that before starting her approach.  
  
She cleared her throat. “Umm… hi? I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m ka—”  
  
“—Kara,” he said. “I know.”  
  
“Oh, okay, well…” she looked nervously down to her hands, only now noticing that she was still holding onto her broom. She had no idea why she even brought it along with her. “I was wondering… if… you...”  
  
“No,” he said, no hesitation at all.  
  
“No?” she asked.  
  
“You’re about to ask me if I’m interested in helping you clean. The answer is a firm and resounding no.”  
  
Her cheeks quickly burned red. It was exactly what she had wanted to ask. “Oh. Okay then… I- I, umm… just thought... nevermind! Sorry for disturbing you!”  
  
She turned away before he could say anything else and made her way back down the slope. She stopped at the bottom and hesitated, before turning back towards him a final time, like with the hope that he might have somehow changed his mind within the last ten seconds or so.   
  
He didn't.   
  
“Answer’s still no,” he said, almost like he was reading her mind. “No chance in hell I’m helping you clean up this mess.”

 

* * *

 

“Mon-El’s going to help you clean up this mess.”  
  
“I’m sorry, what?” Kara took off her headphones and stared at the two in front of her.  
  
“C’mon, J’onn, what the hell!?” Mon-El was clearly displeased with his current predicament.  
  
“It’s Mr. J’onzz to you, Mon-El,” said J’onn J’onzz, vice-principal of Krypton High.  
  
He turned to Kara. “Mon-El here still owes me a few hours of community service after his last _incident._ The principal wanted to retain him another year, but we ended up working out another solution.”  
  
He turned back to Mon-El. “You do want to graduate, don’t you, _Mon-El?_ ”  
  
Mon-El rolled his eyes and kicked at a nearby rock, sending it into the carefully arranged pile Kara had previous swept up, causing them to fall apart everywhere. “Whatever, man.”  
  
“Alright then, that settles it.” Mr. J’onzz smiled. “He’s all yours, Kara.”  
  
Then he left, leaving the two of them standing awkwardly next to each other. Kara was at a complete loss of words to say, still in disbelief at the sudden turn in events. So she picked up a broom in one hand, a mop in the other, and asked the first thing that came to mind.  
  
“Broom or mop?”  
  
He scowled, then without speaking, took the broom away from her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me your thoughts? :D

**Author's Note:**

> Kara has forgotten about the first scene, but Mon-El surely has not. He's not "in love" with her just because she hands him her handkerchief, but he's surely feeling a bit protective. 
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts! :D


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